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How to Pick The Best Dating Site For You

There are over a thousand dating sites, just in the US and millions of singles looking to meet someone online. With all the choices out there, how do you pick the best dating for you. The biggest dating sites will spend millions of dollars on TV ads, telling you that they are the ones. Ignore them. They are filled with nearly impossible to substantiate claims about how many of their users get married after meeting on their sites or how three times as many people meet someone when using their site than those who don’t (that doesn’t even mean anything).

I’ve been working as an online dating coach since 2004, and I’ve worked up close with most of the big sites on the net. I’m a firm believer that smaller sites can be great, but they often don’t have compatible singles who live close enough to make dating them realistic. Here’s my take on some of the larger dating sites on the net. Hopefully, they’ll help you decided which one is right for you.

Periodically, I’ll be adding new posts with my views on other online dating sites. If you have questions about a specific site, drop me a line at Support@profilehelper.com

POF is the largest dating site in the world. This is a site where you can be successful whether you are just looking for a date, or something more serious. However, there are a couple of challenges when it comes to POF. The great news is that it is free, so it has tons of people. The bad news is that it has tons of people because it is free. The search tools are pretty basic and the site isn’t the prettiest one out there, but there are good dates to be found if you are willing to do a little bit of digging.

*Note- POF just changed their rules a couple of months ago to try and get rid of users who are just looking for a fling. If you’ve had an experience in the past where you were approached by sleazebags, now is the time to try it again.

If POF is Wal-Mart, Match.com is Target. Match is the second biggest site on the market and it has a much nicer feel than a lot of the other sites out there. There are more search options that make it easier to zero in on a compatible date, but the site does have a monthly fee that ranges from $19.99 – $29.99 per month. My advice is to join as a free member, but don’t subscribe until you want to email someone or read an email (the two main parts of Match.com that require a subscription.)

What can I say about eHarmony? It can be a great site, but only for a particular type of person. While most sites are about searching out and connecting with other singles, eHarmony is about surrendering your free will to a computer algorithm and hoping that it knows your heart better than you do. I’m not saying that you can’t meet someone great on their site. According to their ads, tons of people get married after meeting on their site. What I am saying is that you get a limited amount of matches sent to you each day by eHarmony’s system, and they are only people that their computer decides is right for you. Personally, I prefer having the chance to do a detailed search and look at all of my options.

These sites are both owned by Match.com. There has been a big push for both of these sites as more people over 50 take to the internet for love. I’ve worked with many people over 50 and they just rarely end up on either of their sites. The general consensus is that they have no interest going on a site that considers them a “senior citizen” and that they feel most of the people on OurTime are a little old and tired for their tastes. If you are over 50 and starting to experiment with online dating, try the bigger sites like Match and POF. They tend to attract a livelier crowd than sites that try to cater to old stereotypes about people over 50.